The definitive resource on estate planning for owners

Start with a topic

Each topic hub gathers its guides, questions, terms and checklist in one place. Begin with the subject closest to your situation and follow the links outward.

• Business successionBusiness succession: buy-sell agreements, valuation of closely held interests, family and employee transfers, and the estate tax rules on each route.
• Charitable planningCharitable planning: bequests, donor-advised funds, private foundations, charitable remainder trusts and gifts of business and investment assets.
• Estate planning across bordersExplore estate planning across borders, noncitizen spouse gifts, QDOTs, domicile, U.S. property and foreign inheritances with practical guides for families.
• Digital assets and propertyDigital assets: fiduciary access to online accounts, cryptocurrency custody and succession, digital inventories and handling during administration.
• Disputes and contestsWill and trust disputes: capacity, undue influence, no-contest clauses, standing, filing deadlines, claims against trustees and settlement.
• Estate administrationEstate administration: executor appointment, inventory and valuation, creditor claims, tax returns, liquidity and final distribution.
• Federal estate, gift and GST taxFederal transfer tax: how the estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes work together, the annual exclusion, the unified exclusion and portability.
• Fiduciaries and governanceFiduciary governance: trustee duties of loyalty and prudence, co-trustees, directed trusts, delegation, conflicts and records owed to beneficiaries.
• Incapacity and health directivesIncapacity planning: financial powers of attorney, successor trustees, health care directives and proxies, guardianship and conservatorship.
• Income tax, basis and trust taxationIncome tax and basis: carryover basis on gifts, basis adjustment at death, grantor and nongrantor trust taxation and net investment income tax.
• Insurance and liquidityEstate liquidity: how estates heavy in business or real estate raise cash, policy ownership and estate inclusion, irrevocable life insurance trusts.
• Private investments and real estateExplore private investments and real estate planning, valuation, special-use elections, inherited property, ownership questions and records for adviser review.
• Retirement accounts and beneficiariesInherited retirement accounts: how beneficiary designations control who receives an account and how post-death distribution rules set the payout.
• Special needs and elder lawSpecial needs and elder law: third-party and first-party special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, Medicaid long-term care rules and financial exploitation.
• State estate and inheritance taxExplore state estate and inheritance taxes, multistate property, lifetime gifts, spouse elections and trust income, with state examples and planning guides.
• The planning process and family dynamicsThe planning process: from inventory to signed documents, plus family governance, communicating a plan and preparing the next generation.
• TrustsTrust design and funding: revocable, irrevocable, grantor and dynasty trusts, distribution standards, funding and modification or decanting.
• Wills and probateWills and probate: what a will controls and what passes outside it, execution formalities, the probate process, spousal rights and intestacy.

Run the numbers

Calculators for federal estate tax exposure, estate liquidity, buy-sell funding and inherited retirement withdrawals. Each shows its arithmetic and works only from the figures you enter.

• Federal estate tax exposure estimatorFederal estate tax estimator: applies the top rate to the taxable estate above the exclusion, after deductions and adjusted taxable gifts.
• Estate liquidity gap calculatorEstate liquidity calculator: compares the cash an estate must pay, including taxes, debts and costs, with liquid assets on hand to show any shortfall.
• Buy-sell funding gap calculatorBuy-sell funding calculator: compares the buyout price with insurance and cash set aside, then shows any unfunded balance and an installment payment.
• Inherited retirement account ten-year scheduleTen-year rule schedule: illustrates level withdrawals that empty an inherited account within ten years. It does not compute required annual distributions.

Infographics

• The estate settlement sequenceFollow the seven stages of settling an estate, from locating documents to closing the estate, in a flow chart with a matching data table below the image.
• How the federal estate tax is calculatedFollow the federal estate tax calculation through gross estate, allowable deductions, adjusted taxable gifts, tentative tax, recomputed gift tax and credits.
• What passes by will, by title or by designationSee the four ways property passes at death, under a will, by title, by beneficiary designation and through a trust, in a chart and a matching data table.

By state

State law governs wills, probate, trust administration, state death taxes and incapacity documents. Each state page covers the rule areas listed on it.

Blue tiles open a state page. See all covered states.

How to start

Start here sorts the site by situation: owning an operating business, holding real estate or private funds, planning for incapacity or settling an estate.

Corrections

Every guide, question and state page lists its sources in a collapsed panel at the foot of the page. To report an error, text (808) 600-9260 or write to Richard@FamilyBusinesses.com. See the corrections page.